Gil de Ferran, who captured the pole and announced his retirement simultaneously on Friday, won Saturday’s race with co-driver Simon Pagenaud, by a huge margin as accidents and mechanical incidents slowed or sidelined the competition.
“Coming into the weekend, there were a lot of emotions going through my heart,” said Gil de Ferran. “Certainly what happened here last year was a huge landmark in my life and to all of our team. At the end of the day, you cannot perform if you are a complete mess. This was my most emotional race. Crossing the cross-finish line, I couldn’t hold back [my tears].”
This was de Ferran’s first win ever at Mid Ohio, and was made all the sweeter by the fact that de Ferran got to share the win with crew member Keith Jones, who was badly burned in a refueling fire at Mid Ohio last year. After the race de Ferran leapt from the car and embraced Jones; both men were in tears. “There is so much to say—I guess we were just sobbing,” de Ferran said. “Jonesy is a great guy and a big part of our team. It was a big win for us and we will remember this one for many years to come.”
Simon Pagenaud echoed de Ferran’s sentiments. “It has been a very emotional time after what happened in pit lane last year. Jonesy has been through a lot, and when I saw his tears at the checkered—I have never had a moment like this. It was very special.”
Simon Pagenaud led from the start of the race, under pressure from the Patrón Highcroft P1 Acura for most of his stint, until the Patrón car was rammed by the #44 Flying Lizard Porsche, damaging the sidepod and ruining the aerodynamics. After the accident, the three-second gap separating the two cars stretched to thirty seconds.
“Things were really going well for the Highcroft team and then unfortunately with about ten laps to go [in my stint] the #44 red Porsche ended up hitting the middle to the rear of my car, did a significant amount of body damage,” Scott Sharp said. “A bunch of cars were going underneath him into Turn Six. I was following the Corvette so I don’t think he saw me so he turned in.”
The situation stayed about the same when Pagenaud and Sharp handed off to de Ferran and David Graham halfway through the race. A late race yellow gave Brabham another shot, but he couldn’t push his damaged car to the speeds de Ferran was able to reach.
Gil de Ferran announced his retirement as a driver after qualifying on Friday; this was de Ferran’s first win in his last race at Mid Ohio.
Clint and John Field drove their Interscope Lola into fifth overall, third in class; they ran as high as third at one point.
Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson finished sixth overall in their Corsa Racing hybrid-powered Gineta-Zytek. While the car doesn’t yet have the speed to compete for the lead, its durability is promising.
Strategy Beats Speed in P2
The P2 field was enriched by the addition of the Cytomax Porsche RS Spyder, co-driven by team owner Greg Pickett, and Klaus Graf. This ex-Dyson racing car made its debut as a Cytomax car at Mid Ohio, and very nearly stole the show, running as high as fourth overall and finishing second in class. “As a team, as a whole package, it was an impressive performance [from Cytosport],” said P2 points leader Adrian Fernandez. “They are fantastic drivers.”
The Dysons did well enough with their new Lola-Mazdas. The #16 car retired with a fried turbocharger after running third overall for a dozen laps. Then the #20 took over, also reaching third overall. Marino Franchitti, co-driving with Butch Leitzinger, turned in some laps approaching P1 speeds.
The P2 struggled reversed itself on lap 78, when Adam Pecorari put the Van Der Steur Radical into the gravel, bringing out a full-course yellow.
All the leaders pitted as soon as the pits opened. De Ferran, Brabham, Fernandez, Graf, Franchitti and Mowlem were all in the pits together. Adrian Fernandez, knowing he was ten mph down in top speed on the other P2 cars, used his knowledge of his car and his racing experience and made a split-second decision; he didn’t take tires, short-filled his car, and rejoined the race ahead of everyone. By beating not only the other P2 cars but also race leader Gils de Ferran out of the pits, Fernandez got back on the lead lap and took over the lead in P2. This gave him a lap advantage over the competition.
Graf and Franchitti drove much faster than Fernandez, who needed to conserve fuel to finish, but they couldn’t overcome the lap deficit.
To ruin a great race, Franchitti in the #20 Dyson got hit by a GT2 car with two minutes left in the race, knocking him off the course and breaking his suspension, putting him out of the race. He was still credited with 17th place and third in class, but this set him back in championship points, as he could have finished second.
Flying Lizards Take Fifth GT Win
Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long in the #45 Flying Lizard won their fifth race in a row, adding to their enormous championship lead.
Behind the flying Lizard machine, GT2 was filled with fierce battles as the second- through seventh-place cars circulated nose-to-tail for much of the race, seizing positions and losing them around every corner.
Mid Ohio saw the debut of the GT2 Corvette racing CR6-Rs, the GT2 versions of the cars that dominated GT1 for so many years. Jan Magnussen and Johnny O’Connell finished second in class, and Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin finished fourth, a strong showing for a new car.
“I loved the Corvettes being out there,” Patrick Long said. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to the class this year. For us to put a car out there that really challenges them is a great testament to the equipment Porsche and Michelin give us.”
Snows Plow to Another Challenge Cup Win
The husband-and-wife team of Melanie and Martin Snow won the Porsche Challenge Cup class, giving them an almost insurmountable lead
“Melanie did all the work,” said Martin Snow. “She did some really good laps She got hit by a car early on but kept it consistent and kept it going.”
“I was a little nervous on the second restart since I had an incident with one of the prototypes on the first start,” Melanie Snow said. “I kept my head down and I was doing faster times in the race than I did in any of the practices. Our car was pretty hammered and we’re supposed to be at Road America next week. Our team has a lot of work to do.”
The American Le mans Series travels to Elkhart Lake Wisconsin, for the Time Warner Road Race Showcase on August 16. Please visit the Road America Web site for ticket information.
| ALMS Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid Ohio Final Results | |||||||||
| Pos | In Class | Class | No | Drivers | Laps | Diff | Make | Car | Status |
| 1 | 1 | P1 | 66 | de Ferran*/(Pagenaud) | 118 | -.--- | Acura | ARX02a | Running |
| 2 | 2 | P1 | 9 | Brabham*/(Sharp) | 118 | 8.358 | Acura | ARX02a | Running |
| 3 | 1 | P2 | 15 | Fernandez/(Diaz*) | 116 | 2 Laps | Acura | ARX-01B | Running |
| 4 | 2 | P2 | 6 | (Pickett)/Graf* | 116 | 2 Laps | Porsche | R Spyder S | Running |
| 5 | 3 | P1 | 37 | J.Field*/(C.Field) | 115 | 3 Laps | Lola | B06/10 AER | Running |
| 6 | 4 | P1 | 48 | Mowlem/(Johansson) | 114 | 4 Laps | Ginetta-Zytek | 09HS | Running |
| 7 | 1 | GT2 | 45 | (Bergmeister*)/Long | 108 | 10 Laps | Porsche | RSR | Running |
| 8 | 2 | GT2 | 3 | (Magnussen*)/O'Connell | 108 | 10 Laps | Chevrolet | Corvette | Running |
| 9 | 3 | GT2 | 92 | Mueller*/(Milner) | 107 | 11 Laps | BMW | E92 M3 | Running |
| 10 | 4 | GT2 | 4 | Beretta/(Gavin*) | 107 | 11 Laps | Chevrolet | Corvette C | Running |
| 11 | 5 | GT2 | 62 | Melo*/(Kaffer) | 107 | 11 Laps | Ferrari | 430 Berlinetta | Running |
| 12 | 6 | GT2 | 87 | Henzler*/(Ragginger) | 107 | 11 Laps | Porsche | 911 RSR | Running |
| 13 | 7 | GT2 | 21 | Farnbacher*/(James) | 107 | 11 Laps | Panoz | Esperante | Running |
| 14 | 8 | GT2 | 90 | Hand*/(Auberlen) | 106 | 12 Laps | BMW | E92 M3 | Running |
| 15 | 9 | GT2 | 44 | Law/(Neiman*) | 104 | 14 Laps | Porsche | 911 RSR | Running |
| 16 | 10 | GT2 | 40 | (Murry*)/D.Robertson/A.Roberts | 102 | 16 Laps | Doran | Ford GT-R | Running |
| 17 | 3 | P2 | 20 | (Leitzinger*)/Franchitti | 100 | 18 Laps | Lola | B0986 Mazda | Accident |
| 18 | 1 | Chal | 57 | (Me.Snow)/Ma.Snow* | 100 | 18 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Running |
| 19 | 2 | Chal | 47 | (Baker)/Cosmo* | 98 | 20 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Running |
| 20 | 3 | Chal | 36 | (Hoaglund)/Faieta* | 98 | 20 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Running |
| 21 | 4 | Chal | 88 | Lewis*/(Vento) | 96 | 22 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Running |
| 22 | 4 | P2 | 19 | van der Steur/(Pecorari*) | 80 | 38 Laps | Radical | SR9 | Running |
| 23 | 5 | Chal | 02 | Parker/(Pickering*) | 77 | 41 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Running |
| 24 | 5 | P2 | 16 | (Dyson*)/Smith | 62 | 56 Laps | Lola | B0986 Mazda AER | Mechanical |
| 25 | 5 | P1 | 12 | (Willman)/Drissi* | 40 | 78 Laps | Lola | B06/10 | Gearbox |
| 26 | 6 | Chal | 08 | (Brown)/Sweedler* | 0 | 118 Laps | Porsche | 911 GT3 cup | Accident |
*Qualifying Driver (Starting Driver)
